What do we watch?

As a family, we have cable television for the first time in our lives. It is like US cable in that there are many options on cable television - it is unlike US cable in that we have the Telugu cable package that is local to Andhra Pradesh. There are entire channels dedicated to depicting Hindu temple rituals (some of which involve in bathing a statue in milk) and others play Hindi serials, the word here for soap operas. Other shows have music videos, and yet others have Islamic evangelism. In short, not too much for us.

There is one channel called Star World, it plays the shows we may have liked in the US - but always a season behind. Despite that, it does play American Idol, and we see that a day after it airs in the US. Tara is careful not to surf the web and find out who was bumped off. It is a really enjoyable show, as always.

But, due to the fact that we have very limited options despite the multitude of channels, we download loads of things from iTunes. We like to mellow out in the evening to a show now and again - who does not? And it helps us feel connected to our language and culture and our type of humor, entertainment. Sometimes it is good to tune India out when you end your day.




I have downloaded untold episodes of SG 1 and Stargate Atlantis. These are from the Sci Fi channel and are really good shows. Very intelligent writing and fantastic action and special effects - there's nothing like it. I store about 30 episodes on the iPod and use it in two places - on the elliptical at the gym and in hotel rooms.




Tara is not a fan of the Stargate genre. She enjoys old time downloads and has a penchant for the Mary Tyler Moore show and even Welcome Back Kotter. I suppose it takes aging to realize that Welcome Back Kotter was not a very good show.... but it makes us remember our youth and is fun.

We have various episodes of The Office and have watched each of them too much. But it never grows old - great comedy.

And the beauty of it - we watch all of this without a single commercial.



Also, we have started to enjoy a show call No Reservations from Travel and Living. It is about Anthony Bourdain, a chef who travels the world eating and exploring. It is a documentary, not fiction. We downloaded his show where he visited Singapore and another about Malaysia so we could know what we were headed into food-wise. We have sustained our appreciation for the show.

Finally, Tara and Liam have some show from the food channel called Three Sheets, where the guys in the show drink their way through different cultures and lands. Reality TV, not fiction. Have never seen it....

Well, a little insight for you. It's all about iTunes and mobile programs that we take around in our pockets and watch when we desire. Good stuff.